


Loved at First Sight

by twinklukeskywalker



Series: TOS Kid Fics [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Sort Of, in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 05:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinklukeskywalker/pseuds/twinklukeskywalker
Summary: A chess match and a conversation.





	Loved at First Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something I wrote because I'm procrastinating on "Third Law." Basically, we see a lot of AOS kid fics, which I guess is convenient because blue eyes ya know. But what if TOS Kirk and Spock had a kid? Anyway, it be like that, I'm bored and procrastinating. Enjoy!

Space was peaceful. It was cold and dark and dangerous, but when watching the stars silently pass at warp from the safety of the _Enterprise’s_ observation deck, it was almost meditative.

Spock sat at a table near the viewing window across from a young woman, a chess set between them. They were talking quietly, although their voices carried in the vastness of the room.

“You are a formidable player,” Spock said. The girl across from him smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“I learned from the best,” she said.

“Indeed.” A few more moves were made before anyone spoke again.

“You look like him.”

The girl looked up from the board. “Like Dad?”

“Yes.”

She leaned back in her chair. “You always told me that. _Sa’mekh’al_ and _Ko’mekh-il_ thought so too. He, however _insisted_ I look like a mix of you and _Ko’mekh-il_.” She moved a knight, concentrating as she thought ahead.

Spock looked at his daughter. His and Jim’s future daughter, supposedly, on the _Enterprise_ for the better part of a week as a result of a massive transporter malfunction. They had both been in Engineering for most of alpha shift, working with Scotty to try and correct the malfunction and send her back to her own time. But for now, she and Spock sat and played and talked, while Jim had volunteered to take a beta shift.

He thought that he was right. She was almost a spitting image of Jim. Her skin was tanned. Her long hair was thick, dirty-blonde and curly, and her eyes were a golden hazel. The preoperative word was almost. Her Vulcan heritage was evident in her eyebrows arching up her forehead and the points of her ears curving over her braids. Her hair was twisted and plaited in a traditional Vulcan style, and she wore Vulcan robes draped over her shoulders.

“You speak of my parents,” he said, unused to hearing his father acknowledged by an endearment. He moved a rook.

“Of course. Dad’s parents died before I was born, so they were the only grandparents I ever knew.” She smiled. “ _Sa’mekh’al_ was the one that suggested my name.”

T’Shanik. Loved at first sight. His father clearly doted on his granddaughter, which was an image that he could not quite reconcile. Maybe old age had softened him.

T’Shanik was watching him, her eyes light. “Does it seem strange?”

“Yes, I will have to admit that it does.”

“I thought it would. _Sa’mekh’al_ protects his reputation well. But I was his only grandchild, and I’m mostly human. He had definitely deflated his head a bit by the time I came around. Trust me.” She picked a queen and moved it up a level. “Dad was still scared of him, though. I don’t think he ever got over that.” She took a sip of her tea.

Spock looked her up and down again, and he was still struck by just how alike Jim she was. She lounged in her chair, and she curled a strand of hair around her finger. But he could see the cold logic behind her eyes, could almost see the gears turning in her head as she analyzed him.

“You wear Vulcan robes,” he said.

“Yes.” She raised an eyebrow. “So do you, I assume?”

“Do not take offense. I only ask because you are Starfleet, yet you do not wear the uniform.” He took one of T’Shanik’s pawns.

“I was stationed on a Vulcan vessel when I was brought here,” she answered. “It was a research exchange between Starfleet and the VSA. I was able to wear my uniform if I wished of course, but I do not.”

“Interesting. This is a new program, I assume?”

“It has only been in place for a few years. I was fortunate that I was able to receive the posting as only a lieutenant, and a young lieutenant at that.” She countered Spock’s move by moving a knight to take a bishop. “ _Sa’mekh’al_ was quite pleased when I told him.”

“You did tell Jim and I, I hope,” Spock said, picking another rook. T’Shanik actually chuckled.

“No I did not,” she said. “I simply disappeared off of my ship and said nothing to anyone.”

Spock could not see the laughter in her eyes. Instead, he saw pain, saw loss. She missed someone.

“T’Shanik,” he said. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course,” she said.

“Have you lost your Jim?” He loathed to say it.

Her face shadowed. She closed her eyes and nodded.

“Yes,” she said. She looked at him. “I will not tell you when. But yes. Why do you ask?”

“You look like your father. I can tell when he is grieving.”

T’Shanik averted his eyes, staring down at the row of white chess pieces lined up by the edge of the board.

“I miss him. More than anything.”

“It is understandable,” Spock said. “Vulcan bonds are some of the strongest emotional bonds in the known universe.” He saw her tap each finger to her thumb, an obvious nervous habit. “It is difficult, I assume, to reconcile this with your Vulcan heritage?” T’Shanik nodded.

“I know that it shouldn’t be. I am more human than I am Vulcan, but I’ve been working among Vulcans for three months. It’s not an environment conducive to exploring my humanity, as it were.”

“Loss is never easy, for anyone,” Spock said. “You are a child of two worlds, _pi’veh_ , and you are fortunate that you have been raised to embrace that. It has taken me a long time to get where you are. Do not think that you are any less of a human or any less of a Vulcan because you feel the way you do.”

T’Shanik sighed, running a tongue over her lips. “Thank you _Sa’mekh_. For everything you and Dad have done for me over the week.” She moved her queen. “I know that this couldn’t have been easy for you. And checkmate.” She flashed him a wicked grin. Very human. A slanted eyebrow cocked up. Very Vulcan.

“Checkmate indeed.”


End file.
